H-D has a lot of work ahead of them, they need to keep the cruiser crowd, and at the same time open up and market to the sport or ADV riders.

I really don’t think they are going to in the US.

Otherwise, you won’t get an argument from me.

Before H-D can sell a smaller, faster bike, they need do a few things. 1st, teach their sales force the bikes, that is was what killed Beull in H-D dealerships. 2nd get rid of the groupies that hang out at the dealership, making fun of all who don’t by a big touring bike.

I have always wanted an H-D V-rod, only H-D I would ever consider. I bought one off the show room floor in May 2011. The sales guy had no clue about the bike, he read from the sales book to me. Only wanted me ride up and down the road in front of the dealership. Kept telling how powerful this bike was, they didn’t want me crash the bike. Because I had never owned an H-D, they acted like I did know any thing about bikes, even after owning motorcycles for 20+ years. I knew more about the bike from my own research then any one on the sales people on the floor. Then there is the sales price, really tried to push MSRP plus about 1.5K in extra fees. I ending up with an OTD price of 1K under MSRP. I was not at all happy with how I was treated, have not been back in that dealership.

E85 requires approximately 25-30% more volume versus gasoline, therefore I would suspect that most engine management systems would be able to adjust for the slight increase in volume needed for E15 as it would be a fraction of what E85 requires.

I look forward to what you find out and will discuss next episode.

2012 DL650′s in Canada, here we are getting a similar model also bearing the Adventure moniker but the details are kind of sketchy. In the overview it says aluminum side cases and engine guard but the picture shows plastic side cases and top case but no engine guard. The features just say side and top cases so I would assume that it would be the plastic set, no mention of the engine guard. Price is $10,899 as opposed to $9,099 for the non-Adventure DL650. Here’s the link:
http://moto.suzuki.ca/Product%20Lines/Cycles/Products/V-Strom%20650/2012/DL650SEA.aspx?category=touring

Good podcast guys!

Of course, this could also simply be the forgetfulness of old age.

Example-
Motorcycles are popular at work with lots of folks. With VERY few exceptions there are two types of bikes everyone rides. Cruisers….and Sportbikes. In our parking areas there are me and one other person who ride “other” types of bikes. We both have dual sport bikes and I also have a FJR.

When trying to explain to people about a dual sport or a sport touring bike their eyes glaze over and they just kind of go into a conversation coma. They simply don’t know what to make of anything past sportbike and cruiser. There are probably only 2 of us that will ride year round no matter the weather (short of snow/ice).

I try to use my bike for everything. There are times that my car will not move for over a month at a time. I try to “preach” about the pros of owning and using a motorcycle for a daily use vehicle.

Unfortunately I do not see it changing anywhere in the near future. The spike in gas prices seemed to help a little but for the most part people aren’t going to accept it anytime soon.

I didn’t get the SHINKO hate in this episode though . I’ve ran the Ravens (and now the “Verge” on my FJR) on a 1200 Bandit, SV650, BMW R1150R, and now my FJR and have never been dissapointed with their performance wet or dry, and they generally put down some good mileage around 10k or so an all those bikes.

Still catching up on’em only 6 or so more hours to go and I’ll be caught up

As far as test rides go, I’m a little surprised the difference is a big as it is. Bikes and cars are sold using the same tactics and methods, why not treat the buyers the same way?

Sounded like “I know you’re a newbie, no way are you riding this” type tactic, but I had my fully-licensed (experienced rider) brother-in-law with me to test it out, wouldn’t let him ride it either.

It all worked out, I love my bike, I hold no grudge on the guy–but if that’s “normal” for introducing someone new into the motorcycling world, no wonder your average joe and jane aren’t going to hop on 2 wheels for regular transportation.

Craig

I have an interesting perspective I think. I’ve been riding 4 months. Motorcycle subculture is new to me. I have my own idea of what motorcycles are for and what they can do, but other people seem to think they know why I have a motorcycle, and it has nothing to do with reality.

I was at a dealer looking at bikes. I was a noob, but I know some stuff–especially what *I* like. Asked about Bike A, they were telling me how great of a bike it was, couldn’t believe it was still on the floor. I asked about Bike B, great bike too, but different. “What do you want it for?” they ask.

And then the hammer dropped. “Oh I want it for utility, to ride to work, get good gas mileage, and just be fun to ride.” I had shattered all their hopes and dreams. I must’ve killed their baby. They gave me an “oh brother” look like you wouldn’t believe. “Oh you can get anything for that.” Pretty much conversation over, the sales guy went back talking to another sales guy.

I didn’t really care at the time, I wasn’t buying that day, but I realized if I wasn’t into something super fast, super loud, or super cool, I was a second class citizen of the motorcycle world.

Guess what? I went over and looked at a supersport type bike just for kicks. a Yamaha liter bike I think… Whadya know? The sales guy came back and wanted to talk to me again.

Sheesh.

I have a little over 40k on the SV.

Also, James, you mentioned you put a fair number of miles on your SV, exactly how many are you talking about? 30K, 50K, 75K?

Thanks for another excellent episode.

The good:
-) Battery life. I’ve used this for 8 hours at a time always connected live to the 2nd headset with no issues.
-) “Always on” means you do not need to hit a push to talk to start talking. Very handy when I want to warn my wife about gravel in a corner.
-) Audio quality is usually very good.

The bad (most of this related to intercom mode):
-) Voice activation is horrible. It will always take 4 to 6 seconds to connect, and often fails to connect in this mode. Also in this mode it will randomly lose GPS connection. You will realize that a few miles after missing your turn.
-) The “always on” mode means there is always a radio hissing in the background. This hiss does increase as the helmet noise increases. It’s been challenging trying to train myself to ignore the noise. It’s always there unless you turn off the intercom connection.
-) While the audio is good on a calm day up to 65 MPH, I’ve found that any amount of crosswind makes my Arai XD3 helmet very noisy which makes it very difficult to hear my wife on the intercom. Just turning up the unit only serves to distort the sound. This does seem unique to my XD3 since my wife does not experience the same issue.
-) “Always on” means if you’re prone to talking to yourself don’t be surprised if you hear the other person laughing at you from time to time. This can actually get a little annoying.
-) It is usually necessary to one or both of the units at least once during an 8 hour ride day. Once they lose connection this can be the only solution.

I found the voice activation, and dropped GPS so bad that I contacted Sena Customer Service. They were very quick to get back to me and tell me the units were working as they expected. I was stunned. After switching to the always on mode they have been less frustrating.

Overall I think the SMH10 works well, and my wife does not want to give them up. But there are issues which leave room for future improvement.

Jon

Jamie, Enjoy them. They’re a good read.

Thanks!

The budget Ohlins does not make a lot of sense to me. I get the idea, but budget means 300.00 not 650.00, with shipping.

A custom Penske can be bought for another 150.00.

I know you guys comment on the news, so this is not directed at you.

I’ve have an ass-full of the electric motorcycle. The cost is not even in the realm where its a choice for most of us. The state I live in, Utah uses coal fired generators to produce electricity. This means my electric motorcycle is really coal powered. I cannot imagine this is any greener than gasoiline.

In fact, I think I will turn an extra light on for every electric motorcycle article I see.

- Dan

- Dan

I hope that you continue to find great success in all your podcasting efforts!

Cliff